Carlsbad firefighters to host 9/11 remembrance ceremony

CARLSBAD -- After six years of privately marking the anniversary
of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Carlsbad's
firefighters are hosting a public ceremony Tuesday.

"As the years go by, time heals everything -- (the pain) doesn't
go away, but it does make it more bearable," said Carlsbad
Firefighters Association President Rick Fisher as he explained why
fighters have decided to have a public event this year.

Carlsbad is one of several communities in North County hosting
ceremonies to remember nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in
the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., and the
crash of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. Local events also are planned
in Fallbrook, Escondido, Oceanside and San Marcos and at Faith
Lutheran Church in Vista today and Sunday.

Out of those who died, 343 people were emergency services
personnel responding to aid calls as the World Trade Center complex
collapsed.

"We normally lose 100 to 120 (firefighters nationally) every
year, so you can see the significance of losing 343 in one day,"
Fisher said.

Dozens of firefighters from San Diego County went to the East
Coast to help out after the attacks, including about a half-dozen
Carlsbad firefighters, Carlsbad Fire Chief Kevin Crawford said. He
was one of them.

A week after the attacks, Crawford served on a rescue team at
the World Trade Center site. They didn't find anyone alive in the
wreckage, and the memories of working on the debris pile are hard
to forget, he said.

Last year, Carlsbad firefighters marked Sept. 11 with a private
event around the flagpole in the morning.

This year's ceremony, which will be at the city's Fire Station 5
at 2540 Orion Way, will include speeches by fire and police
leaders. Bagpipe players and drummers from the San Diego Emerald
Society will open the event at 9:30 a.m.

After a somber beginning, the event will have light-hearted
moments. Children will be able to view and even ride on an antique
engine provided by the Carlsbad Firefighters Association. Fire
station tours and refreshments also are planned.

"We'd love to have the public show up," Fisher said.

It's been a tough year for firefighters nationally, he added. In
recent months, nine firefighters died fighting a blaze in
Charleston, S.C., two died in Boston, two died in Texas and two in
New York City, he said.

ESCONDIDO -- The Escondido Fire and Police associations will
host several events to observe the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11.
Information:
firemanmic@aol.com
.

The 9/11 Memorial Softball Tournament will take place from 10
a.m. to sunset today at Kit Carson Park, 3333 Bear Valley Parkway.
T-shirts and lunch are available for purchase.

A name-reading event to honor fallen heroes of Sept. 11 and
California service members who have died since then will be held
from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Santa Fe Train Depot in Grape Day
Park, 321 N. Broadway. Volunteers are needed to read names.

In addition, Escondido firefighters will travel to New York to
participate in the Sept. 30 "Tunnel to Towers Run," a fundraiser
for the Stephen Siller Children's Foundation. The foundation is
named for FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who died at Ground
Zero.

FALLBROOK -- The Fallbrook community will come together at 11
a.m. Tuesday in the Mission Theatre parking lot, 231 N. Main St.,
to pay tribute to honor and remember those who perished on Sept.
11, 2001. Main Avenue will be closed that morning from Ivy Street
to Hawthorne Street. There will be canopies for shade and folding
chairs for the audience.

OCEANSIDE -- Oceanside police and fire department honor guards
will hold a ceremony observing those who died in the Sept. 11
attacks at 7:28 a.m. -- local time when the World Trade Center's
north tower collapsed -- on Tuesday in front of City Hall East, 300
N. Coast Highway. A keynote address will be given by fire
department chaplain Donald Stroud and guest speakers. The Honor
Guard Pipes and Drums also will present.

SAN MARCOS -- The city and the Rotary Club of San Marcos are
hosting a show featuring the Palomar Pacific Music Men with the
Harmonettes, a women's trio, at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the community
center, 3 Civic Center Drive. Cost: $15 for reserved seats, $10 for
general admission. Advance purchase recommended. Call (760)
744-9000.

Palomar College Republicans and the Palomar College student
affairs office will sponsor a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at 11:45
Tuesday with more than 3,000 flags displayed on campus and students
reading names of the victims. A bugler, bagpiper and the El Camino
JROTC will perform..

SAN DIEGO -- Escondido firefighter Jeff Chumbley is the featured
speaker Tuesday at the sixth annual San Diego 9/11 Memorial
Service, sponsored by the Interreligious Council of San Diego. The
public is invited to join in a day of prayers, meditation,
remembrance, songs and petitions. Chumbley helped with disaster
relief for the hundreds of New York firefighters who lost their
lives in the World Trade Center bombings. The event runs from 11
a.m. to 2 p.m. at Balboa Park west, Sixth Avenue near St. Paul's
Cathedral, between Nutmeg and Olive, San Diego; free; (858)
200-5475.

Names of those lost on 9/11 will be read in a ceremony aboard
the USS Midway, beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The San Diego Blood Bank will hold its 6th Annual Patriots Day
Blood and Bone Marrow Drive at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday. All donors will be awarded a ìNever
Forgetî T-shirt and a Rubioís gift card.

Bone marrow testing for the National Marrow Donor Program will
be free.

Anyone 17 or older, weighing at least 110 pounds and in good
health, may be eligible to donate blood. A good meal is recommended
prior to donation. For more information, please call 1-800-4MY-SDBB
or visit www.SanDiegoBloodBank.org.

A committee of Republican college students from various
universities in Southern California will hold a 9/11 Never Forget
Memorial at Balboa Park in San Diego from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday,
with 2,977 American flags in the ground representing each life
lost. For information, contact John Rogitz at (619) 890-3398 or
Johnnyrogue@gmail.com
,
or Karen Hiskett at (949) 322-9796 or
KHiskett@UCI.edu
.